We lived in a very quiet neighborhood. Earlier that evening my wife had asked me to go to the   1 to get some soft drinks. It seemed like this would be a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her  2 , so I allowed her to go to the store in my truck.
At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. I  3  having it, but I said: “Guy, my heart is not set on that truck. I like it but it is just metal and won’t  4  forever. Never set your heart on anything that won’t last.
We were talking  5  we heard a loud noise.  6  hearing it, the whole family ran outside. My son shouted; “Dad! Dad, Holly crashed your truck!”
My heart sank and my mind was flooded with conflicting (矛盾的) thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was 7? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my heart say: “Here is a chance to show Holly  8  you really love. She’ll never forget it.”
The  9 had happened in my own driveway. Holly had  10  my truck into our family van (搬运车). Because of her  11 , she had confused the brakes (刹车) and the gas pedal (油门). Holly was unhurt  12  but when I reached her, she was crying and saying “Oh, Dad, I’m sorry. I know how much you love this truck.” I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend asked what had happened to my truck. I told her the whole story. Her eyes moistened (湿润) and she said: “That happened to me when I was a girl. I  13 my dad’s car completely. When I got home, my dad knocked me to the ground and began to  14  me.”
Over 40 years later, she still felt the  15 of the night, which was a deep wound on her soul.
I remember how  16 Holly was when she crashed our truck, and how I   17 her. One day, when Holly  18  on her life, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times  19 any piece of  20 .

The drug store was closing for the night. Young Alfred Higgins, the shop-assistant, was ready to go home. Mr. Carr, the boss, stared at him and said: “Hold on, Alfred. Maybe you'd be good enough to take the things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.”Alfred's face got red. After a little hesitation, he took out what he had stolen. Mr. Carr said, “Maybe I should call your mother and let her know I'm going to have to put you in prison.”
Alfred thought his mother would come rushing in, eyes burning with anger. But, to his surprise, she arrived wearing a smile. “Hello, I'm Alfred's mother. Is he in trouble?”she said. Mr. Carr was surprised, too. He had expected Alfred's mother to come in nervously, shaking with fear, asking with wet eyes for a mercy for her son. But no, she was most calm, quiet and pleasant and was making Mr. Carr feel guilty…. Soon Mr. Carr was shaking his head in agreement with what she was saying. “Of course”, he said, “I don't want to be cruel. You are right. Sometimes, a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life and it often takes the youths long time to get sense into their heads.”And he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins's hand.
Back home, without even looking at Alfred, she said, “You are a bad luck. It is one thing after another, always has been. Why do you stand there so stupidly? Go to bed.”In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. There was no shame in him, just pride in his mother's strength. He felt he must tell her how great she was. As he got to the kitchen, he saw his mother drinking a cup of tea. He was shocked by what he saw. His mother's face was a frightened, broken one. It was not the same cool, bright face he saw earlier in the drug store. As she lifted the tea cup, her hand shook. And some of the tea splashed on the table. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. He watched his mother without making a sound. The picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth coming to an end. He saw all the troubles he brought his mother in her shaking hand and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother

1. 1.

   The reason why Mr. Carr felt guilty was that ________

   1. A.
      he found Alfred was in fact innocent
   2. B.
      he should have called a policeman in first
   3. C.
      Alfred's mother appeared polite and gentle
   4. D.
      he thought he was partly responsible for it
2. 2.

   Which of the following is probably said by Mrs. Higgins while talking to Mr. Carr?

   1. A.
      “Please, for God's sake, you know, he is just a kid.”
   2. B.
      “I can't believe it! You are treating my son like that!”
   3. C.
      “You know, it takes time for a youth to truly grow up.”
   4. D.
      “Punishment makes sense because it teaches about the law.”
3. 3.

   What does the underlined phrase "his mother's strength"(Para. 3) refer to?

   1. A.
      Mrs. Higgins's calmness and communicating skills
   2. B.
      Mrs. Higgins's attitude towards parental sufferings
   3. C.
      Mrs. Higgins's love and care for her son Alfred
   4. D.
      Mrs. Higgins's greatness as a woman
4. 4.

   After the incident, young Alfred would probably ________

   1. A.
      feel ashamed of her mother
   2. B.
      change his attitudes towards life
   3. C.
      learn to live an independent life
   4. D.
      hate Mr. Carr for hurting her mother

The drug store was closing for the night. Young Alfred Higgins, the stop-assistant, was ready to go home. Mr. Carr, the boss, stared at him and said: “Hold on, Alfred. Maybe you’d be good enough to take the things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.” Alfred’s face got red. After a little hesitation, he took out what he had stolen. Mr. Carr said, “Maybe I should call your mother and let her know I’m going to have to put you in prison.”

Alfred thought his mother would come rushing in, eyes burning with anger. But, to his surprise, she arrived wearing a smile. “Hello, I’m Alfred’s mother. Is he in trouble?” she said. Mr. Carr was surprised, too. He had expected Alfred’s mother to come in nervously, shaking with fear, asking with wet eyes for a mercy for her son. But no, she was most calm, quiet and pleasant and was making Mr. Carr feel guilty…. Soon Mr. Carr was shaking his head in agreement with what she was saying. “Of course”, he said, “I don’t want to be cruel. You are right. Sometimes, a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life and it often takes the youths long time to get sense into their heads.” And he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins’s hand.

Back home, without even looking at Alfred, she said, “You are a bad luck. It is one thing after another, always has been. Why do you stand there so stupidly? Go to bed.” In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. There was no shame in him, just pride in his mother’s strength. He felt he must tell her how great she was. As he got to the kitchen, he saw his mother drinking a cup of tea. He was shocked by what he saw. His mother’s face was a frightened, broken one. It was not the same cool, bright face he saw earlier in the drug store. As she lifted the tea cup, her hand shook. And some of the tea splashed on the table.  Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. He watched his mother without making a sound. The picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth coming to an end. He saw all the troubles he brought his mother in her shaking hand and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.

56. The reason why Mr. Carr felt guilty was that ________.

A. Alfred’s mother appeared polite and gentle

B. he should have called a policeman in first

C. he found Alfred was in fact innocent

D. he thought he was partly responsible for it

57. Which of the following is probably said by Mrs. Higgins while talking to Mr. Carr?

A. “You know, it takes time for a youth to truly grow up.”

B. “I can’t believe it! You are treating my son like that!”

C. “Please, for God’s sake, you know, he is just a kid.”

D. “Punishment makes sense because it teaches about the law.”

58. What does the underlined phrase “his mother’s strength”(Para. 3) refer to?

A. Mrs. Higgins’s attitude towards parental sufferings.

B. Mrs. Higgins’s calmness and communicating skills.

C. Mrs. Higgins’s love and care for her son Alfred.

D. Mrs. Higgins’s greatness as a woman.

59. After the incident, young Alfred would probably ________.

A. feel ashamed of her mother         B. learn to live an independent life

C. change his attitudes towards life     D. hate Mr. Carr for hurting her mother   

    MRS Flowers was one of the few gentlewomen I have ever known. One summer afternoon, she stopped at our store to buy food. Mom said: “Sister Flowers, I’ll send Bailey up to your house with these things.”
    “Thank you, Mrs Henderson. I’d prefer Marguerite, though.” My name sounded so beautiful when she said it. “I've been meaning to talk to her, anyway.”
     There was a path beside the rocky road, and Mrs Flowers walked ahead of me.Without turning her head, she spoke to me: “I hear you’re working very well in school, Marguerite, but only in written assignments. The teachers report that they have trouble getting you to talk in class.” “Language is mankind’s way of communicating with our fellow men, and it is language alone, which separates us from the lower animals.” That was a totally new idea to me, and I would need time to think about it.
    “Your grandmother says you read a lot ---every chance you get. That’s good, but not good enough. Words mean more than what is set down on paper...”

    She said she was going to give me some books and that I must not only read them, but read them aloud. She suggested that I should make a sentence sound in as many different ways as possible.
    She brought a thick, small book from the bookcase. It was A Tale of Two Cities. She opened the book, started reading and I heard poetry for the first time in my life. “It was the best of times and the worst of time...” Her voice curved through and around the words. She was almost singing.

   61. Mrs Flowers preferred the author to send what she bought home mainly because __________.

      A. she knew the author better than Bailey
      B. she wanted to have a chat with the author
      C. she wanted to invite the author over for some snacks
      D. she wanted to help the author with her written tasks
   62. According to the article, the author ______.
      A. didn’t work hard in school
      B. was not active enough in class
      C. liked to talk with her classmates in class
      D. got along well with her teachers and classmates
   63. On the way back home, Mrs Flowers ______.
      A. tried to persuade the author to talk with her
      B. recommended some popular books to the author
      C. encouraged the author to interact more with others
      D. convinced the author of the importance of reading
   64. We can infer from the article that Mrs Flowers ______.
      A. is a kind-hearted and humorous teacher
      B. attaches more importance to written English than oral English
      C. believes reading literary works aloud helps people better understand them
      D. thinks reading classic literary works helps people communicate better

Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all times, really
did fools' experiments?  
Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?
Sometimes people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution (解决办法) to a problem. Sometimes they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.
Charles Darwin didn’t settle for (满足于) just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.
Suppose you drop two sheets of paper which are exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other sheet. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn't be worth anything.
But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understanding of physics ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.
Science sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, what we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations (基础) of science.
68. “Sometimes people think they already know the answer to a question.” This means that _________.
A. they are already told the answer
B. the question is so important that everyone should know the answer
C. they are already to answer such a question by others
D. the question is simple enough for them to answer
69. From the passage, we learn that Charles Darwin _________.
A. did many fools' experiments
B. enjoyed doing simple experiments
C. was not satisfied with what he knew
D. tried to prove that Galileo and Newton were sometimes wrong
70. The underlined phrase “set aside” most probably means “________”
A. throw away        B. store up     B. put to use       D. realize
71. The author of the passage tries to ________.
A. convince(使…信服) us that Charles Darwin, Galileo and  Newton are the greatest scientists in the world
B. draw the conclusion that basic sciences are simple things
C. prove that two sheets of paper, with the same size and shape, will fall at the same speed
D. draw our attention to everyday happenings around us